In yet another incident showing the plight of drought-hit farmers and their families in Maharashtra, a 40-year-old woman in the Marathwada region was forced to commit suicide as she was unable to feed her five children.

In a major step to mitigate the sufferings of farmers reeling under worst drought in four decades in several parts of Karnataka, the government on Tuesday announced a Rs 3,500-crore package waiving farms loan up to Rs 25,000.